landed up on grub prompt after recent update (using 11.04 with wubi)

Do you see the virtual disk C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk? (change drive if you installed e.g. on D:).

If it's there then I suspect you'll need to fsck the root.disk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#How_can_I_access_my_Wubi_install_and_repair_my_install_if_it_won.27t_boot.3F

If it's not there you need to locate it in a hidden folder C:\found.000 (change drive as required).

Did you have any forced shutdowns/poweroffs lately. Anything else that might explain it?

It does not help as I don't have an ubuntu CD. I need a solution which
can be tried on either on windows or on grub prompt.

Thanks for the help !

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 7:15 AM, bcbc
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
> bcbc proposed the following answer:
> Do you see the virtual disk C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk? (change drive if
> you installed e.g. on D:).
>
> If it's there then I suspect you'll need to fsck the root.disk
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#How_can_I_access_my_Wubi_install_and_repair_my_install_if_it_won.27t_boot.3F
>
> If it's not there you need to locate it in a hidden folder C:\found.000
> (change drive as required).
>
> Did you have any forced shutdowns/poweroffs lately. Anything else that
> might explain it?
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280/+confirm?answer_id=0
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

>> Did you have any forced shutdowns/poweroffs lately. Anything else that might explain it?

I do forced shutdown/poweroffs quite often as ubuntu often fails to come back (or it takes too long) from the suspended state.
I am not sure if it was due to force shutdown or the recent updates in ubuntu ( I did not pay attention to what changes update manager was proposing).

For future reference, avoid forced shutdowns. See this if you need to 'reset': https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#How_to_reboot_cleanly_even_when_the_keyboard.2BAC8-mouse_are_frozen

We can try a few things to fix without requiring a live CD.
1. run chkdsk on the drive you installed to (I'm assuming C:)
Open My computer, right click on C:, properties, tools, check disk for errors, Fix automatically. You'll need to reboot to do this on C:. Agree and reboot.

2. check that C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk exists.
If not, go to a command prompt as administrator (click START, type "cmd", look above and right click cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator. Enter:
CD \found.000
dir

Post back what you see.

Thanks for prompt response !

1) I have already run chkdsk on C drive (which contains my unbuntu
stuff) but that did not help

2) I have checked the presence of root.disk and it exits in the ubuntu
area of my c drive.

What next ?

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 9:15 PM, bcbc
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
> bcbc proposed the following answer:
> For future reference, avoid forced shutdowns. See this if you need to
> 'reset':
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#How_to_reboot_cleanly_even_when_the_keyboard.2BAC8-mouse_are_frozen
>
> We can try a few things to fix without requiring a live CD.
> 1. run chkdsk on the drive you installed to (I'm assuming C:)
> Open My computer, right click on C:, properties, tools, check disk for errors, Fix automatically. You'll need to reboot to do this on C:. Agree and reboot.
>
> 2. check that C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk exists.
> If not, go to a command prompt as administrator (click START, type "cmd", look above and right click cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator.  Enter:
> CD \found.000
> dir
>
> Post back what you see.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280/+confirm?answer_id=3
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

PS step 5 is done after booting back to Windows.

Thanks ! I will try this and let you know how it goes.

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 9:45 PM, bcbc
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
>    Status: Open => Answered
>
> bcbc proposed the following answer:
> If that's the case then your only remaining option is to fsck the
> root.disk. There is only one way to do this without having an Ubuntu
> CD/USB.
>
> But before I get onto that. It's never a good idea to poweroff a
> computer (on any OS, but particularly bad using Wubi). This can damage
> your file system. In some cases it's the ntfs file system (and chkdsk
> can repair it). When it's a problem within the root.disk itself (the
> virtual ext4 filesystem) then you have to fsck it.
>
> So, the only way to run fsck is to boot a linux OS. And if you can't or won't boot a linux CD, then you can do this:
> 1. MOVE the root.disk outside of the \ubuntu directory (it must be outside or it will be deleted in step 2). For this example I'll save move it to C:\savedrootdisk
> 2. Uninstall and reinstall the same release of Wubi (choose the smallest size 3 or 4GB)
> 3. reboot to complete install, and boot into the new install.
> 4. fsck your old root.disk:
> sudo fsck /host/savedrootdisk/root.disk
>
> The fsck should request confirmation to repair. Hit 'Y'. Note that fsck
> does modify the file, so if you want to be extra careful, backup the
> root.disk before running fsck.
>
> 5. Copy the (hopefully) repaired root.disk back to C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk
> (moveing a large file is quicker, so you can delete the existing 3GB one and move your repaired one.)
>
>
> Summary
> ------------
> That's the only way I know you can do this without a CD or USB. I wouldn't recommend it normally.
> PS you should probably hold off creating a bug before you resolve your question. Since this problem is probably due to powering off repeatedly, it's unlikely to be taken seriously as a bug.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280/+confirm?answer_id=5
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

I feel this problem may be related to the recent updates (faced this
issue right the first reboot after recent updates) rather than the
forced shut down.
I will still try using fsck on the rook.disk to see if there is any
file corruption or not.
I was so happy with ubuntu that I had almost abandoned my windows
however this issue is really a show stopper.

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 10:11 PM, Eliah Kagan
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Bug #822762 status changed in Wubi:
>
>    New => Incomplete
>
> Status change explanation given by Eliah Kagan:
>
> In https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280, where this is
> being worked on, you indicate that numerous forced shutdowns had been
> performed in the Wubi Ubuntu system, before this problem occurred. Is
> there any strong reason to think the problem is caused by a bug rather
> than filesystem damage from forced shutdowns? If there is no reason to
> think this is due to a bug, then this bug report can be closed with
> Invalid status.
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/wubi/+bug/822762
> "landed up on grub prompt after recent update (using 11.04 with wubi)"
>
> This bug is linked to #167280.
> landed up on grub prompt after recent update (using 11.04 with wubi)
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

It worked for me. Thanks a lot !

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 9:50 PM, Anil Arya <email address hidden> wrote:
> Thanks ! I will try this and let you know how it goes.
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 9:45 PM, bcbc
> <email address hidden> wrote:
>> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
>> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>>
>>    Status: Open => Answered
>>
>> bcbc proposed the following answer:
>> If that's the case then your only remaining option is to fsck the
>> root.disk. There is only one way to do this without having an Ubuntu
>> CD/USB.
>>
>> But before I get onto that. It's never a good idea to poweroff a
>> computer (on any OS, but particularly bad using Wubi). This can damage
>> your file system. In some cases it's the ntfs file system (and chkdsk
>> can repair it). When it's a problem within the root.disk itself (the
>> virtual ext4 filesystem) then you have to fsck it.
>>
>> So, the only way to run fsck is to boot a linux OS. And if you can't or won't boot a linux CD, then you can do this:
>> 1. MOVE the root.disk outside of the \ubuntu directory (it must be outside or it will be deleted in step 2). For this example I'll save move it to C:\savedrootdisk
>> 2. Uninstall and reinstall the same release of Wubi (choose the smallest size 3 or 4GB)
>> 3. reboot to complete install, and boot into the new install.
>> 4. fsck your old root.disk:
>> sudo fsck /host/savedrootdisk/root.disk
>>
>> The fsck should request confirmation to repair. Hit 'Y'. Note that fsck
>> does modify the file, so if you want to be extra careful, backup the
>> root.disk before running fsck.
>>
>> 5. Copy the (hopefully) repaired root.disk back to C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk
>> (moveing a large file is quicker, so you can delete the existing 3GB one and move your repaired one.)
>>
>>
>> Summary
>> ------------
>> That's the only way I know you can do this without a CD or USB. I wouldn't recommend it normally.
>> PS you should probably hold off creating a bug before you resolve your question. Since this problem is probably due to powering off repeatedly, it's unlikely to be taken seriously as a bug.
>>
>> --
>> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
>> know that it is solved:
>> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280/+confirm?answer_id=5
>>
>> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>> following page to enter your feedback:
>> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>>
>> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>>
>

If this problem is now fixed, you can mark this question as Solved. (You can do that at https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280.)

Anil arya, great! I'm glad it worked.

Please in the future, use Alt+SysRq R-E-I-S-U-B to reboot safely when you need to (as mentioned in that link I provided earlier in post #4).

Thanks bcbc, that solved my question.

In some cases, it is possible to reboot even more gently by switching to a virtual console (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and then pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. But that does not always work, whereas Alt+SysRq+REISUB (as mentioned by bcbc) almost always does. For more information on how to properly enter Alt+SysRq+REISUB and how it works, see http://kember.net/articles/reisub-the-gentle-linux-restart/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key.

By the way, if your computer freezes up frequently (or more than once in a very long while...or ever), then unless you know for sure that it is due to a hardware problem that you cannot fix, you may want to post a new question about that and see if someone can help (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion).

Definitely , Thanks again !

On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 7:56 PM, bcbc
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> bcbc posted a new comment:
> Anil arya, great! I'm glad it worked.
>
> Please in the future, use Alt+SysRq R-E-I-S-U-B to reboot safely when
> you need to (as mentioned in that link I provided earlier in post #4).
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

Ctr+Alt+F1 does not bring any console/shell for me. I will post a new
question on the issue of slow recovery (or hang) from suspended state.

On 08/09/2011 08:05 PM, Eliah Kagan wrote:
> Your question #167280 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/167280
>
> Eliah Kagan posted a new comment:
> In some cases, it is possible to reboot even more gently by switching to
> a virtual console (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and then pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. But
> that does not always work, whereas Alt+SysRq+REISUB (as mentioned by
> bcbc) almost always does. For more information on how to properly enter
> Alt+SysRq+REISUB and how it works, see http://kember.net/articles
> /reisub-the-gentle-linux-restart/ and
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key.
>

Sometimes, in a freeze, Ctrl+Alt+F1 has no effect. However, if you have found that Ctrl+Alt+F1 *never* has any effect (even when the system is working fine), then you should definitely mention that.

(To get back from Ctrl+Alt+F1, assuming it does bring you to a virtual console, press Alt+F7 or Ctrl+Alt+F7. If that doesn't work, use Alt+F8 or Ctrl+Alt+F8.)